Big Picture - June/July 2020 - 20

DIGITAL WALLCOVERINGS DELIVER
ENDLESS DESIGN WONDERS
Creative interior décor concepts abound with the versatile Colorado printer series from Canon Solutions America

BIG PICTURE

June/July 2020

In the interior design marketplace, indoor space is prime real
estate and walls are often untapped canvases. As inspired
designers vigorously pursue these creative landscapes, it's
imperative to acknowledge a recent dynamic transformation
in wallcovering production, the largest area of progress within
the industry. After all, there was a moment in time when latex
dominated the digital wallcovering landscape and media was
developed to contend with heat requirements on latex printers.
But the times, they have changed.
The décor industry, which has shown virtually no signs of
regression, has experienced double-digit growth since 2016.
It's been reported we spend 80 percent of our lives in interior
spaces (according to Marketing Week) - if not more in recent
months - so there's little wonder as to why walls have become a
blank canvas for our creativity.
Dynamic digital printing capabilities on durable materials
have reshaped the interior décor scene. Limitless design and
customization opportunities abound for architects and designers in a variety of industries, including in the residential and
non-residential segments, such as retail, restaurants, hospitality,
corporate environments, travel and tourism, and more.
The digital wallcovering forum has succeeded against the
traditional markets of paint stores, designer showcases, and
paper products. Wallcoverings have also proven to be a cheaper
alternative to decorative paint, with durability lasting for up to 15
years or more, offering both easy installation and removal.

The industry's seismic shift has supplied print service providers (PSPs) a unique way to diversify their business and take
on new revenue streams and growth opportunities in the interior
décor market. Correspondingly, users can seamlessly customize
a room with the implementation of image files and materials. This
new, inventive printing technology has allowed printers to produce
on a wider variety of materials and rigid substrates, giving designers more creative freedom with a faster turnaround time.
Lynai Jones, president of Mitchell Black (mitchellblack.
com), a prominent home décor brand specializing in custom
and bespoke wall art, wallcoverings, wallpaper, and more, has
experienced this evolution first-hand as customer demand for
wallpaper drastically increases.
"We had to add shifts in order to cut enough paper to meet
the deadlines that we had imposed upon ourselves, which
was a three-to-five-day production time," says Jones. "It just
became too much to do. So, we reached out to (Canon Solutions
America) and encountered the Colorado. There was just so many
benefits that we didn't anticipate."
"Customers have a tendency to not order enough wallpaper,"
adds Jones. "They come back and generally need to add on to their
order. What we learned is that with the latex we were constantly
having color consistency issues. In fact, if we did a specific larger
job, we would need to overprint and have things on hand just in
case, which, of course, was a material waste and ink waste if they
happened to not need more. But the reality is that it was really holding us back from selling into certain situations, because we could
not guarantee the color would be the same if we needed to print
again. That has been alleviated 100 percent (with the Colorado)."
The advent of Canon's Colorado printer series in 2017,
powered by UVgel ink technology, has supplied users with
durable, edge-to-edge color match, panel-to-panel, and
dimensional stability when using vinyl wallcovering materials, as
well as superior image quality and color gamut, without relying
on heat to dry. Along with high output, the Colorado is UL
GreenGuard Gold approved, Type II by ASTM, and with lower
than latex Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), all of which has
helped Mitchell Black grow in the commercial market.
To learn more about the power of the Colorado printer series, visit
csa.canon.us/CanonWallpaperFactory

http://csa.canon.us/CanonWallpaperFactory

Big Picture - June/July 2020

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